CHAPTER 9
To:Bella Swan
From:Edward Cullen
Subject:Whassup?
Hey Bella
I was glad to hear that you made it to the first stop on the tour okay. You'd mentioned that your car had seen better days, so I wasn't sure if you were going to make it safely! Rosalie found out after the fact of course, and is now grumbling that she could have arranged a loan car for you.
We've just finished the first week of the shoot here, and it all seems to be going well so far. The script is still in development, so we're getting updates pretty much every day, sometimes with only an hour to spare before we shoot the scene. The Director is going nuts, but we're staying on schedule so that's the main thing I guess.
How's the tour going? Are the band members behaving themselves?
I miss you,
Edward
To:Edward Cullen
From:Bella Swan
Subject:RE: Whassup?
Hey Edward
You sound like Jacob (lead singer, remember?), he wasn't too happy when I drove either. He was expecting me to be on the tour bus with the rest of the guys. I didn't realise that's what they were expecting, but it gave me a laugh. I'd feel like a groupie then, and anyway, travelling THAT much with those guys wouldn't exactly help with any impartial reporting.
We had a talk about it, and he's still trying to talk me into travelling with them. He makes the same comments about my truck as you do – what is it with you guys? He has a point though, my car has definitely seen better days.
The first couple of gigs have been well received, and I've been told that the crowds will keep getting bigger from this point on. The bars and clubs have been great so far, and I'm wondering if I should keep a list of some of the cheesier pickup lines I've been getting to use on you when I get back.
I miss you too,
Bella
To:Bella Swan
From:Edward Cullen
Subject:RE: RE Whassup?
They wanted you to travel in the bus with them? Just thinking about how Emmett and I were when we were in our early twenties is enough to convince me that any group of men together for any length of time means that things are going to get feral!
Oh and Bella, you know you don't need any pickup lines with me, I'm already yours.
Edward
PS. Now THAT was cheesy!
To:Edward Cullen
From:Bella Swan
Subject:WTF?
Edward I can't believe you did that! I've left a message on your voicemail as well, but I'm doing to say it here again anyway. I can't believe you had Rosalie deliver a car! When I checked in at the hotel, the clerk told me my car had arrived earlier that day, hence the WTF reaction…
THEN I woke up this morning to see my car getting loaded onto a semi-trailer to be transported back to LA. Jesus Cullen … stalk much?
Hmm. I've just read that bit back to myself. Please don't think that I'm angry. It was an amazingly thoughtful thing to do, it was just such a shock! I'm so used to looking after myself that it's a real shock to the system to have someone step in and take care of something for me.
It's an incredibly thoughtful gesture from you guys, and I'll of course be having you all over for dinner when I get back as a thank you.
Of course, I wish I could give you a big thank-you kiss in person – damn work!
Bella
PS. Jacob has been weird today. I showed him the car he got a bit pissed about it. Maybe it's not his type of car? Again, you guys are weird …
To:Bella Swan
From:Edward Cullen
Subject:RE: RE: WTF?
Damn work indeed – I'll be holding you to that kiss, with interest! Let's see … if I factor in some cumulative interest, then you're going to be in occupied for quite some time.
Glad you liked the car, and even more glad that you weren't mad. I just wanted to keep you safe.
Edward
PS. Hope the tour is still going well – have you heard any more interesting pickup lines lately? I am always willing for you to experiment on me!
To:Edward Cullen
From:Bella Swan
Subject:Are we there yet?
You're going to have to forgive me, but I've got my whiney mouth on.
I'm four weeks into the tour here, and I think I'm over it. Don't get me wrong, the band is great, and I really think they're going to go places. It's just the constant moving around, the bars and clubs they're playing in get to me after a while. Speaking of bars, just how do they get a club to smell so much like stale beer? Do you think they actually buy the carpet for these places with the beer pre-soaked in? Maybe all the patrons buy a beer for themselves and another for the floor.
See? Now I'm rambling, this is the effect that tour is having on me!
I guess I'm just a bit tired today, so no doubt I'll email and apologise tomorrow once I've calmed down a bit. I just heard one pick-up line too many last night, and then the groupies around the band and the noise and the … and the … sorry, rambling again.
I seem to have reached saturation point with music journalism, so maybe I'll be home earlier than I thought.
How's your work going? Tell me some good news!
Missing you
Bella
o * o * o * o *
"Hey Edward."
Edward looked up to see his co-star Tanya smiling at him from the doorway of his trailer.
"You want to go downtown and get a coffee or something? They're going to be another hour or so setting up, and I'm going stir-crazy here."
"Sure, just give me a moment to ..." he was cut off as Tanya interrupted.
"Pleeeeeeeease? Can we go now? I've just got to get away for a while before my head explodes!"
Edward glanced at his laptop screen. Bella sounded so down, but a look at his watch had him work out that she'd probably be driving right now anyway. He'd reply as soon as he got back.
Ten minutes later, Edward and Tanya had gotten directions to a café downtown from their shooting location, so the pair of them set off.
"God it's so good to be out of there!" Tanya declared with a sigh.
"Yeah," Edward replied absentmindedly. He couldn't stop thinking about Bella.
"And maybe you need a break too. Are you okay?" Tanya asked with concern.
"Huh? No, I'm fine." He said, forcing a quick smile.
"Uh-uh. Something's got you down Edward, what is it. Or who is it? You got girl problems?"
Edward looked into her open face and gave in. He and Tanya had worked on a couple of movies now and were on their way to becoming good work buddies with each other. Whilst he wasn't about to bare his soul, it did help to have someone he trusted to talk to.
"Well," he began awkwardly, "there's this girl."
"And?"
Tanya slipped her arm through Edward's as they kept walking.
"And … I don't know. It felt like we were just getting started and then she had to go work and I had to come here."
"Urgh, don't remind me. Marcus and I have that all the time."
"You do?" Edward looked at her in surprise. It wasn't often Tanya talked about her boyfriend, but from what he knew they had been together for two years and were still going strong.
"Yeah, we have a hell of a time with work commitments. It took us months to finally get our act together."
"Months, " repeated Edward gloomily. Tanya saw the look on his face and laughed.
"Cheer up Edward," she said slipping a companionable arm around his waist, "if it's meant to be then things will work out."
"I hope so," he replied, putting his arm around her shoulders as they walked on.
Neither of them had seen the excited teenagers in the car they had just walked past, camera phones in hand.
o * o * o * o *
To:Bella Swan
From:Edward Cullen
Subject:RE: Are we there yet?
I don't like that you're miserable and so far away. Are you feeling any better? I wish I was with you and that there was something more I could do.
If you're not happy on the tour, the solution is simple, just come back!
Okay, so that advice might be selfish on my part, but you've got to do what makes you happy. Life is too short to have a bad day at work every day. Can I call you?
Missing you,
Edward
To:Edward Cullen
From:Bella Swan
Subject:RE: RE: Are we there yet?
Thanks Edward.
I think just knowing there was someone out there that cared was enough – your email helped me much more than you know.
I'm also glad that you called. You have no idea how good it was to hear your voice, plus of course, you just sound so damn sexy. You could have read the phone book to me and I would have swooned.
Your comment about life being too short really got me thinking, and I'm closer to a decision now. I'm exploring a few options back in LA, and doing some different freelance stuff while I'm here on tour, so I'm definitely keeping my options open.
Again, thank you … and I'm missing you too. Lots.
Bella
To:Bella Swan
From:Edward Cullen
Subject:RE: RE: RE: Are we there yet?
Bella
Knowing you're feeling better makes me feel better, and keeping your options open can be a good thing. I'll call you soon. I love hearing the sound of your voice too.
Edward
o * o * o * o *
"Hey Bells." Greeted Jacob, strolling up to the table where she was sitting in the diner they had stopped at for lunch. "Whacha doin'?"
Bella looked up from her laptop with a tired smile.
"Hey Jake, I'm just catching up on some project work from LA."
"What," he joked, sinking into the seat opposite her. "Don't tell me you're seeing another band!"
"Nothing for you to worry about Jacob, you guys are the best."
Jake sighed with exaggerated pleasure. "It's so nice to hear an opinion that's unbiased for a change…"
Bella grinned at him briefly and kept typing.
"I'm nearly finished here, do you want to order us a coffee or something?"
"Sure."
Jake got up and wandered over to the counter to order, and helped himself to a pile of magazines that was sitting in a basket next to the register. He was idly flicking through it as he walked back to the table when something in it stopped him in his tracks. He stood there for a moment staring at the page, and then continued on his way back to the table.
Bella kept typing for a few more minutes, and then closed her laptop with a contented sigh.
"Good job?" Jake asked?
"Well I like to think so, but the jury's still out on it for the time being."
They sat and made idle chit chat until their coffees were delivered. Bella was stirring in some sweetener when she noticed the magazine at Jake's side.
"Famous Magazine? I wouldn't have thought that was your preferred reading." Bella noted with a grin.
Jacob gave her a smirk.
"Yeah well it was on the counter so I just picked it up to flick through while you were working." He slid it over towards her, and Bella opened it to start flicking through out of habit. He sat quietly watching her flick through, then stop dead on the page he had seen earlier.
"Oh yeah … I thought I recognised that guy. Isn't he the one you had with you at one of our gigs back in LA?"
Jacob watched her face closely, monitoring her reaction.
Bella's face had drained of colour, and now as she read the accompanying words a surge of colour rushed back. The headline was brutal in its simplicity. 'Hot New Couple!'.
"Keep your options open, indeed." She muttered to herself, feeling angry at the tears that pricked at her eyes.
o * o * o * o
Rosalie made herself comfortable at the kitchen table with a fresh cup of coffee and the latest magazines, sighing contentedly as she began to flick through the glossy pages. High performance vehicles were her passion, but trashy magazines were her brain candy. Edward didn't like having them in the house at all, but with him being away on set she was perfectly free to indulge in her guilty pleasure.
She was about to take another sip of her coffee when she turned the page and froze at what she saw. Her arm was poised mid-sip for a moment and then she very slowly returned the cup to the table.
"Oh fuck."
Ten minutes later, she and Emmett were hunched over the magazine pages, scrutinising the photos.
"I don't know babe," said Emmett doubtfully. "They look kinda cozy there."
"Yeah but look at the body language."
"I'm looking!"
Rosalie sighed and pointed.
"Look, their hips aren't touching. There's a bit of distance between them both."
Emmett grunted.
"And he's looking a bit down. She looks happy but that's not the happy Edward that we've been living with. Something else is going on."
"You think?"
Rosalie squinted at the pictures again.
"I damn well hope so. These magazines will print anything if they think it'll sell a few copies."
"True. You think we should call him?"
"Yep." Rosalie nodded decisively. "Chances are he doesn't have a clue about this article, you know he avoids this shit like the plague."
Edward didn't know, but he was about to find out.
o * o * o * o
"Edward, they'll be here in a few minutes, they're just finishing up with the others."
"Okay, thanks."
Edward closed his laptop and stood up, brushing down his jeans. There was another journalist on the set doing a few puff pieces for E! Online Entertainment so he was going to have to go into what he called 'seal mode'. He frowned at his laptop. No word from Bella for the last two days, she hadn't responded to his last two emails, which was most unlike her.
He sat on the step of his trailer, waving at the approaching journalist and the shepherding Production Media Assistant, a welcoming smile carefully pasted onto his face. It had been a long day. His phone buzzed with a message, and he quickly pulled it out to check. To his disappointment it wasn't from Bella, but from Rosalie.
Phone home! R & E
He frowned, but was unable to do anything more as the journalist was nearly there. He shoved his phone back into his hip pocket and stood up to shake hands. She seemed a little over-awed to be on set, stammering slightly as she introduced herself, so he was guessing she was relatively new to the job.
Soon they were settled at a nearby table and chairs as she went through what was probably a carefully researched list of questions for her, and routine for him. No anecdotes in this interview, not much laughter either. These days any media interview just made him miss Bella all the more.
"And I guess finally the question that everyone is wanting to know, is there any truth to the rumours we're all hearing about you and Tanya?"
"Sorry, what?" Edward leaned forward slightly, perhaps he had misheard her.
"Your co-star, Tanya Denali. Some pretty hot photos of you two out and about have been published lately and … "
"Published where?" Edward said in a terse voice.
The journalist looked a little startled, so Edward composed himself and forced a smile.
"Sorry," he apologised, "but it doesn't take much to get a rumour going these days. What pictures are you talking about?"
"I don't have them with me, but they look like there's certainly more than onscreen chemistry between you two." She tried to tease, but fell short when she saw his expression.
"I think I'd better clear this up by saying that Tanya and I are just good friends. You build up a good rapport when you've worked together over a few other films."
The journalist looked at his face and began to smell a story.
"Interesting you should say that, because that's just what Tanya said."
"And I'm very glad to hear that."
"Are you aware that Tanya and her partner Marcus are having problems?"
"What relationship doesn't have its ups and downs? I respect Tanya's privacy though, and it would be nice if a few more people were to do the same."
The interview ground to a halt within moments, and after more compliments and thanks, the journalist had gone.
Edward looked around for his assistant. He had to see those photos.
"Edward!"
He looked up at the call and saw the Set Director heading his way.
"You're needed back on set in 20 minutes!"
Fuck. He never seemed to have enough time. He shook his head, and headed towards makeup.
o * o * o * o
"Bella?"
"Hmmmm?" Bella glanced up from her laptop, pulling herself out of her reverie to see Jacob grinning at her from his chair in the communal dressing room.
"You going to watch the show tonight?"
Lately she had been turning in early with a book, or talking to Edward on the phone. After her discovery in the magazine at lunchtime though, she was feeling a little out of sorts. A part of her knew that she was acting childish by avoiding the issue, but another part was telling her that she had been living in a dream, so why be surprised that the bubble had finally burst?
"Sure, why not?" she replied, watching Jacob's face split into a wide grin.
o * o * o * o
"Cut!"
Edward relaxed as the Director stepped forward from behind the camera.
"Okay Edward, that was looking great, but we're going to run a few different set-up shots. It's going to take us a while, but if we could get this scene in the bag tonight we'll be making good time. You okay to do that?"
That sounded like a late night. He still hadn't had a chance to call Rosalie yet either. Great.
o * o * o * o
To:Edward Cullen
From:Bella Swan
Subject:Going quiet
Hey Edward
You've certainly given me a lot to ponder over lately, so I'll be going quiet for a little while to think things through.
Hope the filming is still going well.
Bella
o * o * o * o
Bella whooped and hollered along with the rest of the crowd as the band finished their set and acknowledged the cheers. Handing his guitar to Seth, Jacob jumped off the stage and made his way straight over to where Bella was standing.
"How was that?" he asked, having to half shout over the din.
"Fantastic as always, you guys rock!" she shouted back.
Jacob laughed and planted an exuberant kiss on her lips, making her laugh in surprise.
"Come on gorgeous, let's get some drinks!" He wrapped his arm around her and began to move through the crowd towards the bar.
o * o * o * o
Edward wearily unfolded himself from the car and waved his thanks at the driver before heading through the hotel reception towards the bank of lifts. It was 3am and thankfully there was no-one in sight except the night clerk. Mercifully there was an elevator waiting, and he pressed the button for his floor automatically, leaning against the wall and fighting to stay awake. In an effort to stay on schedule the Director had been pushing the shooting days over 14 hours.
He let himself into his room, tossed the key onto the bedside table, and stripped off for a shower, all but groaning with relief as the hot spray hit his body. Once he had dried off, he briefly considered PJs, before snorting and crawling into bed naked. He felt utterly exhausted, and had to be back on set in six hours.
Had he checked his phone, he would have seen six missed calls - five from Rosalie and one from Bella.
o * o * o * o
Bella sighed at her phone and slipped it into her bag. It was late where Edward was, so he was either asleep or … otherwise engaged. She gave herself a mental shake. She didn't want to think about it yet. They hadn't been in touch for over a week. There had to be a logical explanation, but she wasn't sure if it was going to be good or bad. Maybe it was good that he hadn't answered. And after all, she'd said in her email that she wanted some quiet time anyway …
"Hey c'mon girl, this'll put a smile on your dial."
Jacob proffered a glass in her direction, which she took with a grimace.
"Jaegermeister?"
"The one and only, come on girl."
Bella threw the shot back, grimacing slightly at the taste, barely registering that Jacob had slipped his arm around her waist.
o * o * o * o